Never Grow Up
by swingingfreely
Summary: Regina casts the dark curse when Emma is 4 years old. Gepetto builds the wardrobe, but there's a catch, only two children can go through. Emma and Grace, Jefferson's daughter, who is 14 at the time, go through. What will happen when 22 yearold Grace and 12 year old Emma move to the mysterious town of Storybrooke, Maine. (Inspired by the Taylor Swift songs Ronan and Never Grow Up)
1. Infinite Times Infinite

**I hope you like this story. I know it's short, but I already have most of the second chapter written and it will be longer! Revenge easter egg! See if you can find it!**

_When I was little, I had my parent's story memorized by heart. As my mother would tell me for the millionth time, my father occasionally pitching in, I would close my eyes and imagine I was there, watching them fall in love all over again._

_ My mother would get to the part where I was born and say,"Snow White gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who grew upp and became an amazing princess. And they all lived happily ever after" She would hug me and I would squeal with joy. _

_"Do you know how much I love you baby?" She would ask. _

_"Infinite Mama." I'd say giggling. _

_"Infinite times infinite," my father would say. __Once my mother grabbed a quill off of my father's desk and drew two infinite symbols crossing over one another. _

* * *

"Come on Emma! You're going to be late for school" Grace yells frantically. "I don't want to go to school Gracie." I tell her. I miss Mama. She would always help me with my lessons. I never went to preschool. There were always tutors, but Mama was always my favorite teacher. After all, I absolutely adored her.

"Why? Is something wrong Em?" she tries to feel my forehead, but I pull away. She looks hurt.

"School's not the same. I don't have any friends, and my teacher is fine, but she's not Mama." I say.

Grace bends down to me and gives me a sad smile. "I know sweetie, I miss my Papa too. It's not the same, I know, but for now we just have to be strong and hope that we can find them soon."

"I didn't want to tell you until after you got home from school, but I guess you need a bit of cheering up." Grace looks hesitant to tell me her big secret.

"What is it?" I inquire. I hate secrets.

"Well, I've been looking for a new job and I found one." She says. My face lights up. She has hated her job for a while now. She works as a front desk person at this dentist office. Bo-ring. Grace continues. "There was an opening for a new music teacher at an elementary school in Storybrooke, Maine. I went out on a whim and drove there when you were at school last week for the interveiw. I got it and I start next week. We're moving there tonight. Since we don't have much stuff, I knew thatit wouldn't take a long time to pack, so thats why I've been procrastinating on telling you-" She's rambling now. Grace does this when she gets nervous.

"Gracie!" I cut her off. She's startled by my sudden outburst. "It's fine, I'm not mad! I'm actually really excited!" I exclaim.

"So you're not mad? You want to move?" Grace looks hopeful.

I shake my head. "No, I'm not mad! I'd love moving!"

"Great!" she says," But you still have to go to school today." I groan.

* * *

By the end of the day, I am exhausted. I have to walk a mile and a half to and from school every day since Grace can't pick me up becuase she's at work.

When I get home I hang up my coat on the coatrack and I'm immediately starving. I walk to the kitchen and grab some hot chocolatte mix and a mug. I fill the mug with hot water and then mix in the hot chocolatte mix. I take a sip and realize that I'm missing something. Cinnamon! How could I forget? I run to the spice drawer and pull out cinnamon.

Soon Grace is home and we start packing. It takes me about and hour to pack all of my clothes in boxes. I have a lot of clothes. Grace is busy packing all of our other belongings like silverware and knicknacks, so I pack her clothes. All of our furniture is rented, so we don't have to worry about that.

By about 9:00 at night we have everything packed and in Grace's old, yellow bug. We stop at an In-N-Out and get some burgers and shakes and then we drive to Storybrooke. Grace says the drive will take about three to four hours.

* * *

I look out the window of the car. It's dark now and I'm on the verge of falling asleep.

"Emma?" Grace asks.

"Yes?" I reply.

"My father once told me about the story of how your parents met. He said it was quite a tale. He said to ask your mother to tell me someday. Seeing as that's not possible would you mind telling me?"

"I would love to!" I say.

I clear my throat and begai to tell the beautiful tale of my parent's love. "One beautiful day in the woods, my father and his betrothed, sat in a carriage that was bringing them to their new home. Abigail, the nag with the bad attitude, as my mother liked to call her, complained about how bumpy the road was and how long it was taking. All of a sudden the carriage came to a halt. My father stepped out of the carriage and noticed a fallen tree in the middle of the road. 'Worry not, it is but a fallen tree', he reassured his betrothed. As he looked down he realized that the tree had been cut and that it was an ambush! Suddenly a thief grabbed his jewels out of the carriage and fled the scene on one of his horses. He chased after the thief, and eventually caught up to him, knocking himself and the thief off of their horses. 'Show yourself, you coward!' he shouted. He turned over the thief, only to find that 'he' was not what was expected. 'You're a… girl.' 'Woman.' She corrected…"

I can almost hear my mother telling the story with me. Pitching in and defending herself when she thought my father's side veiw on their meeting wasn't the least bit accurate.

**Review?**


	2. North Star

**Just to clarify, Emma is 12 years old and Grace is 22 years old. Grace is Emma legal guirdian, but they consider each other sisters.**

_I remember, before the curse, when I had bad dreams, my father would walk with me in his arms out onto my balcony. We would watch the stars, and I would point out constellations. He told me if I was ever lost, to follow the North Star. He said it would guide me home._

* * *

I must have fallen asleep, because I awake to Grace softly shaking me. "Em- wake up. We're here."

"Granny's Bed & Breakfast", Grace recites as we walk up to the old inn. The door creaks loudly as we enter and we are greeted with a very excited old lady. She has a striking resemblance to Auntie Red's Granny.

"Hello! You must be Grace Swan!" she inquires as she motions to Grace. "I'm Granny, as you might have suspected. Would you like a town or square view? We usually charge more for the square view, but since we have been lacking customers lately they will cost the same."

"Well, what do you want Emma?" Grace asks. I shrug and Grace laughs. "She's too tired to make up her mind. Let's just go with square."

"Great! And how long will you be staying with us?" Granny asks.

"Three days. We have to wait until our apartment is ready for us to move in to." Grace says excitedly. We are finally getting our second chance. What's not to be excited about?

As Grace and I walk up to the room, Grace says," Didn't that woman look like Red's Granny?" I nod.

We walk out of the stairwell toward the room that Granny assigned us to. Grace unlocks the door and it creaks loudly as she slowly opens it. We exchange a glance. We walk into the old room and I set down my suitcase next to the queen size bed with an interesting tribal print duvet cover.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth." Grace yawns as we both pull out our bags of toiletries. I slowly brush my teeth and walk over to the bed. I plop down into it and I'm asleep in a matter of seconds. Somewhere around me I hear Grace turning off the lights and getting into bed next to me.

* * *

The rain is falling lightly now, and I can hear the droplets as they cascade downwards to hit the windowpane. Grace awakes shortly after me. "Good morning Em. Let's get dressed, and then we can ask Granny if there is a good place to get breakfast around here."

"Alright Gracie." I respond. Soon I am dressed in my pink Hunter boots, a long gray pea coat that goes down to my knees, and white leggings. Grace French braids my hair and we walk down to the lobby.

We are surprised to find not Granny, but a girl who looks like she is in her early twenties. She is softly singing a song that sounds familiar.

"'If only, if only,' the woodpecker sighs, 'The bark on the trees was as soft as the skies.,' As the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely he cries to the moon, 'If only, if only.'"

"Hello?"" Grace asks. The girl looks up startled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Oh, that's alright. I'm just not used to having anybody stay here." The girl smiles. "I'm Ruby. My granny owns the inn." This is really starting to freak me out. She looks exactly like Auntie Red. At least from what I can remember. I was only four the last time I saw her. Still, I can see the resemblance. This girl looks like something out of a goth fashion magazine.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Grace Swan and this is my little sister Emma." Grace says.

"Hi." I say shyly. She doesn't need to know that we aren't sisters by blood. I consider her my sister, so that is all that matters. Ruby seems friendly though, so I smile up at her.

"Well it's nice to meet you both. So what brings you here to Storybrooke? We don't get many new residents here. Actually, I can't recall the last time somebody moved here." Ruby says.

"We just wanted a fresh start. I saw a job opening at the local elementary school for a choir teacher, so I came down here for the interview, and I got the job." Grace explains.

"So can I help you guys with anything?" Ruby asks.

"We were wondering if there was a decent place to get breakfast around here." Grace says. I hear my stomach grumble and I blush.

"Actually, Granny owns a little diner down on Main Street. You can't miss it." "Thank you!" I smile at her.

It is still raining as me and Grace run out of the foyer of the inn towards the stepping stones that lead to the sidewalk. Grace pulls out a clear bubble umbrella. She doesn't bother to ask me if I want to share it with her, because she already knows my answer. Rain, oh how I love it. The smell, the feel. Everything about it delights me. Grace splashes into a puddle in her navy Hunter boots that match mine. We walk on to the main street to find it deserted. How odd. Well, this is a strange town.

As I walk alongside Grace, I can't help but smile.

We finally arrive at a small diner with an illuminated sign reading _Granny's_. It is surprisingly full of customers. We sit at an isolated booth and suddenly are greeted by Granny. "Hello Grace! I'm so glad that you are learning your way around town!" She bends down to my level. "I didn't ever catch your name sweetheart."

"Emma." I respond softly.

"Oh, what a lovely name. If you two know what you want you can tell me right now and it will be out soon." She smiles. This woman is oddly friendly, for just meeting us yesterday.

"I'll have a breakfast burrito and a hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon." Grace and Granny look down at me and I realize that they are waiting for me to order.

"I'll have the same as Grace." I say.

"How funny is that. Mary Margaret Blanchard likes her hot chocolate the same way. Must be a coincidence." Granny walks away.

"Gracie." I say. She looks up. "I was wondering when I will be going to school."

"Well, first we have to move in to the new apartment. That will be in two days. So I guess in two days I will enroll you. I saw an elementary school on our drive in. I think that's the one I'll be teaching at. Storybrooke Elementary School. I guess you'll go there." Grace explains. I sigh. We have so much to do in the next two or so days.

A younger guy, maybe in his early twenties, walks up to our table with the food that we ordered. I must note that if I were older, then I would have a go at him. "Here you are. Two breakfast burritos and two hot cocoas with cinnamon and whipped cream." He sets the food down on the table. "Are you two new here? We normally don't get many new faces around Storybrooke." He inquires.

"Mmmhhhmmm." I reply with a mouth full of cocoa. Grace and the boy laugh.

"I'm Grace and this is Emma." I swallow what's in my mouth and give him my best smile.

"Cool. I'm Hollis." Grace gives him a playful _no duh_ face. He looks confused but then he remembers that he has a nametag on. They both laugh. "Well I guess I'll see you around Grace and Emma." I wave.

The rest of our breakfast is silent because of how hungry we both are. By the time we are done with our food, the rain has ceased. What a bummer. We walk back to the inn and I splash in puddles. On time I even get Gracie. "Emma!" she exclaims. When we arrive at the inn, we grab some more of our belongings out of the car to bring to the hotel room. Ruby is asleep when we walk past the lobby. I snicker at this.

* * *

We have lunch and dinner at Granny's. For lunch I have a veggie wrap and coke and for dinner I have two sliders and cocoa with milk and cinnamon. I like to switch it up. After dinner Grace and I went on a walk around town. The streets were still damp from the earlier rain. We found ourselves walking towards a vast forest, much like the one from my home land. There was a small path and we walked along it until the sky began to get darker. I looked up and I saw a beautiful sunset. We started to walk back to the inn.

"Gracie, did you like that boy at the diner?" I ask.

Grace scoffs. "Em, why would you say that? I hardly even know him."

"I don't know. I thought that you two really hit it off." I reply.

She laughs again. "Em, you are only twelve, listen to yourself." I might only be twelve, but my parents were pretty much the definition of true love. I know love when I see it.

"Okay…" I say.

"I don't like him!" Grace exclaims. We make eye contact and all of a sudden we are laughing hysterically. "Look at us, going at it like two year olds." Grace laughs.

By this time we are back at the inn. I take a shower once we get up to the room, and Grace does the same after me. I get out my notebook and pen. I have this thing where I write letters to my mother. I know that she can't read them, but it makes me feel like I can still talk to her. When I didn't know how to write, I would talk to her. Out loud. I know that she couldn't hear me, but it gave me-still gives me this secure feeling. I can close my eyes and suddenly I'm in her arms. But when I open them, she's gone. It breaks my heart, but I think this is part of the healing process. Not that I will ever heal, but it still makes me feel better. I begin to write.

_Dearest Mother,_

_ How are you? I'm fine, but I miss you and Papa. A lot has happened since I last wrote to you. Grace and I have moved from Boston, Massachusetts to the odd town of Storybrooke, Maine. What an interesting name, am I right? We arrived yesterday and I have a feeling that this will be good for both of us. The owners of the inn that we are staying in right now look exactly like Auntie Red and Granny. It is really rather peculiar. Often I think back to my old life in the Enchanted Forrest: running through the trees, being the naïve princess that I was- am. I remember jumping into the freezing water below the cascading waterfalls. I still remember the way the sun lit up my room in the morning and the way you would walk in and hug me and tell me good morning. How Papa would give the cooks a day off to cook food for us on every Sunday. I can not even desribe how much I miss you, Mama. I miss your smell of cinnamon and the way you would tell me you loved me. I can still hear your voice from the last time I saw you. I was crying because I was scared to go and I didn't want to be without you. You told me that we are family; and that family always finds one another. I told you that I would always find you and Papa smiled. I know that I am close to finding you. I can feel it. Goodnight Mama. I love you._

_Love,_

_Emma_

I close my notebook and sigh. Grace comes out of the shower and soon is in bed with me. I look out the window and I see the North Star. I smile. Maybe I'm closer to finding my parents than I think.

**Review? The song that Ruby is singing is in the song from the book 'Holes' by Louis Sachar. **


	3. Dandelions

**Hey everyone! This hasn't gotten many reviews yet, but I can tell that some people like the idea of this story. The reviews that I have gotten are very kind, and they are what kept me writing this. P.S. I'm a little bit obsessive about outfits. If you can't tell I'm a bit of a fashion freak! Hope you can imagine these outfits as well as I can! + I hope you don't mind. I might stop doing this in the chapters to come, but I think their outfit choices help to show their personality and the like. If any of the outfit names confuse you, look them up on Google Images. I actually advise it. The furniture I have envisioned for Emma and Grace's loft is mostly from Anthropologie, so just look online at their website and it might make more sense. Plus Emma and Grace's loft is very similar to Mary Margaret's in the show, if that helps.**

**And forgive me if the moving process is a little bit confusing. I'm fourteen and I've lived in the same house my whole life, so I really have no idea what it is like to move. I did my best. So, enjoy and review!**

_When I was younger, back in my old land, I would spend countless days in the garden with my mother. It was funny how she had a way with plants. Just like everything else, I suppose. She had a large garden full of all of the flowers you could think of. My favorites were the dandelions and the daisies. Mother said that you were supposed to make a wish on the dandelion, and then blow on it, causing the enchanting seeds to fly in all directions. Even though mother saw dandelions as weeds that plagued her garden, I saw them as something else. Now I see why. Their false hope fills your dreams with never-ending possibilities._

* * *

_Beep-beep-beep_

Apparently, Grace set an alarm for herself, because all I hear at six o'clock in the morning is the annoying sound of a blaring alarm. Grace groans and leans over to turn off the alarm.

"Em." I hear through my pillow. The sound is muffled though, because my head is buried under my pillow. "It's time to wake up."

"No." I groggily say through the pillow. Grace jumps on top of me and throws my pillow halfway across the room. She laughing as she opens the curtains and bright sunbeams enter the room. I wince. "Fine. Now I'm awake."

I get out of bed, undress, and hop into the shower. It's one of my weird quirks. I have to have my morning shower, or else I'm very grumpy and irritable. I rinse the shampoo, then conditioner from my long, blonde hair and rinse off all of the body wash.

I look out the window from the bathroom. There is another rainy day ahead of us. Just my kind of weather! As I blow-dry my hair, I can't help but feel anxious about the days ahead of me. Me and Grace have to move into the new apartment and I have to go to a new school. This is all going to happen in one measly week! At least the weather is nice. Maybe not a normal person's definition of nice weather, but I like it.

I throw on a long-sleeved black shirt with some French words on it that I cannot decipher, my favorite lucky jeans, my black Hunter boots, and my Free People printed lace raincoat. Grace may not take many things seriously, but when it comes to fashion, she is on top of it. If she ever sees something at one of the thrift stores that we stop by that looks high in fashion, or something like that, she buys it for either me or herself.

Grace is dressed in an dark orange dress with a subtle peter pan neckline with a pleated skirt, long black leggings, dark brown riding boots with knee high lace socks, a three-quarter sleeve white lace shirt, and a long cream tulle double breasted coat. Her long brown hair is down in her natural curls.

"Do you want me to do your hair Em?" she asks as she is making the bed. "Sure!" I reply. Grace is like a hair expert. It takes her about one minute to pull my hair back into a long French fishtail.

* * *

We get breakfast at Granny's diner again, and I get pancakes this time, of course with my usual cocoa accompanied with cinnamon. I look around the diner to see faces that seem familiar. I can't tell why. I was only four when I left my home and I can't really remember the faces of people who I wasn't close to, but most of these people seem familiar. I didn't really get to meet many people other than Auntie Red, Auntie Ella, Uncle Thomas, Granny, Gipetto, and my best friends Alexandra (Alex for short) and Pinocchio. My mother always told me about her seven dwarf friends of whom I never got to meet. I don't really know why, but I never questioned mother. There was something about a mine accident I think.

We are waiting for our food to come out and Hollis and Grace keep making eye contact. I don't blame Grace for gawking at Hollis, with his celestial looks. But does she have to make it so obvious?! I'm trying to help her out by subtly nudging her shoulder, but right now she is totally oblivious to anything that doesn't revolve around Hollis.

He gets called over by Granny. I can vaguely hear her teasing him. "Stop making googly-eyes at Grace over there, and get to work!" He blushes and does as he is told. He brings us our food and I can almost feel the awkward in the air.

"Hey Grace." He smiles while holding our food.

"Hey Hollis." Grace answers.

"Oh! Here's your food. Sorry." He blushes again and smiles.

"And here's your money." Grace smiles back at him. He puts the money in his apron thingy that bus boys have. Yup, they are definitely hitting it off. I bet it will be a matter of hours, okay maybe days, before he asks her out.

"I've got to go. Well, I'll see you later Grace." Hollis reluctantly walks away.

"Bye." Grace calls back at him. He smiles over his shoulder.

Me and Grace finish our breakfast and start to walk out of the diner. Hollis runs over to the door in regular clothes and opens the door for us. It looks like his shift is over.

"Hey girls." Hollis says trying to be cool. It doesn't fool me, but Grace on the other hand is practically swooning. Two words. That is all he has to say to make her forget her own name. Geez Grace. I struggle to hold in a chuckle.

"Hi Hollis. Is your shift over?" Grace asks hopefully.

Hollis nods. "Yeah, it is."

"So I was hoping that you were free today. Maybe I could show you two around today. You know, because you two are new and all." He looks at me and Grace smiling.

"Sure. That sounds fun Grace. I think we're free, right?" I try to answer for her, because she looks like she can't talk at the moment.

Grace nods. "Oh, yeah! That sounds great! We're free the whole day today, but tomorrow Emma and I have to move into our new apartment and register Emma for school."

"So, do you want to start now?" Hollis asks. Me and Grace nod. He continues, "We could drive around in my truck, or we could walk. What sounds appealing?"

"It might be a tiny bit cold for us to walk, so we should probably drive." Grace says. Hollis nods.

"So my tuck is over there." He points across the street to an old, red pick-up truck. We walk over to it and he unlocks the doors. Grace gets in shotgun and I get in the back. He puts the key in the ignition and starts the engine. "Let the adventures begin." he says as we start driving away.

* * *

Our "tour" really consisted of Grace and Hollis nonchalantly flirting as though I wasn't even there. After Hollis's remark 'the sky is so gray because of all the blue is in your eyes', I scoffed out loud. I quickly covered my mouth, but I'm pretty sure they both heard me because they toned down the flirting after that. I learned pretty much nothing, other than Hollis's full name; Hollis Mason West, that going to the woods to watch the sunset was very romantic, and that Hollis lived on Mifflin Street a couple houses down from the mayor, who was supposed to be utterly horrifying. We literally did circles around the town because it is so small. But, I wasn't that upset. If Grace had a good time, and if she and Hollis hit it off, then it's fine by me.

Hollis invited us over to his house for some lunch, and Grace, of course, accepted. So now I've found myself eating possibly the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had in my life, in the middle of Hollis's kitchen. His house is very large, actually, for a bus boy. It surprises me. His father must be rich or something.

"Emma!" I hear Grace yell from his family room. "Come in here!" I walk toward where her voice came from toward a large room with a very large flat screen television, an air hockey table, a Ping-Pong table and a Deconstructed Roll Arm sofa with a matching arm chair and a couple other accessories and a Bolacha coffee table.(A/N: It might help to look these up on Google Images to get a better idea of what the room looks like. BTW I love the look of this coffee table!)

Grace and Hollis are cuddled up next to each other watching the television. "Emma! Guess what's on!" She doesn't give me time to answer. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is on!" Really? Me and Grace love to watch this movie together. It is very curious how this world knows so much about my mother. She is pretty famous on Earth, and she has never even been here!

"Oh, is it really?" I respond excitedly.

Hollis nods. "Yeah, and Grace has been telling me that it is your absolute favorite and how you were a blonde Snow White for Halloween for the past 5 years." I blush and smile shyly. It is kind of embarrassing that I have been the same thing for Halloween for the past five years, but I don't really mind.

Hollis doesn't seem to notice, so I shrug it off. "Cool. Let's watch then."

Grace and I stay at Hollis' place really late. "So, do you have the whole place to yourself?" Grace asks Hollis as we sit in his kitchen.

"Yeah, my family was in a car crash two years ago, and my parents died. I got the whole house. It's actually pretty lonely living in such a big place all by yourself." He sounds a little sad, and I can tell that he is trying to hide it.

Apparently, Grace notices this too. "I'm so sorry Hollis. Though, we can relate to your situation. Both of me and Emma's parents are dead." Grace gives him a sad smile. Her statement isn't necessarily true, because our parents aren't dead. They are just gone. "Wow. I'm sorry." Hollis replies.

This conversation is getting very morose so I decide to brighten it up.

"Hollis," I ask. He looks up. "Grace and I are going to be moving into our new apartment soon. Maybe you could help us move all of our belongings there?"

His face is no longer stoic because now he has another reason to spend time with Grace. "Of course, I would love to!" He replies a bit too excitedly. "When am I needed?"

"The place is officially ours tomorrow. Are you sure that you are free?" Grace asks.

He nods. "Positive." Grace smiles at me with thankful eyes. I can tell that she had wanted to invite him, but she wasn't really the type of person that makes the first move.

* * *

I wake up to sunbeam lights blinding me through the window. Grace is nowhere to be seen. She is probably at the front desk informing them that we will be leaving the inn today. I squint and make my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth. The chilling mint from my toothpaste always wakes me up.

After I brush my teeth, I get dressed and put my hair up in a messy bun. Today I am wearing a floral sundress with my black high tops, of course from thrifting. I wait for Grace for about fifteen minutes and finally get fed up with waiting for Grace. As I head down the stairwell, I can hear laughter coming from the lobby.

I enter the small entry way to find Grace and Ruby laughing about who knows what. "Emma! There you are! Sorry, I was just about to come upstairs to wake you up." She exclaims.

"Grace, it's almost ten o'clock! Hollis will be here any minute! Sometimes, I wonder if I'm the adult." I tease her. I see Grace's face go into panic mode. I know this look. She thinks that she look like crap-which she doesn't.

"Grace, you look fine. It's not a fashion show, you know. We are just moving in." I reassure her.

"Are you sure Em?" She looks skeptical. I nod.

Right on cue, Hollis walks into the lobby. His face lights up to see that we are already waiting for him. "Hey guys! Wow Grace, you look great!" He is such a suck up.

You can tell that Grace didn't even think twice about what she threw on this morning. She is wearing an army green cargo jacket with a black RVCA t-shirt underneath. Her pants, or at least what's left of them, are some old Hudsons with many holes. And she has on a maroon hoodie with her hair down in in and black combat boots. Wow Grace. She is totally embarrassed, I can tell. She knows that he is just trying to be a gentleman, but did he really have to comment on her outfit first?

"Thanks Hollis. So we should get going. Emma did you pack up your stuff?" She asks. Crap. I totally forgot that we were moving today.

"Um… yeah that's what I did." I sheepishly grin and then sprint to the stairwell and then up to our room. I am out of breath by the time that I get to the room and unlock the door.

I grab the suitcase that I originally brought to the room with me and then started throwing clothes and the like into it. I am finished by the time that Hollis and Grace arrive to the room. "See Gracie." I show her the room all spick and span. "I'm all packed."

Hollis laughs at me and a smirk. "Okay Em, you're off the hook this time." Grace mutters.

We walk down to the car and put our stuff in. It is crammed with all of me and Grace's clothes. I swear; we own more clothes than we know what to do with. "Hollis, you could just follow us in your car right?" Grace asks. "Yeah, sure." He says. Ha, poor Hollis. He's sad because he doesn't get to ride in the car with Grace. Those two are unbelievable. He seriously needs to ask her out already.

Grace starts to drive out of the parking lot and Hollis follows us. According to Google Maps, our apartment complex is on 2nd street. It takes us a few minutes to get there.

The bug stops at the complex and it has a weird feel to it. Almost familiar, but I know that I've never been here before. Grace and I get out of the car and meet up with Hollis. "I'll go to the owner's room and get our keys and you two start unloading the boxes." Grace instructs us.

We do as told and Grace is back in a few minutes with the keys. "Got 'em" She says as she twirls one of the keys around her index finger. "We're on the second floor. Room 23 she said. Apparently we are right next to some Mary Margaret Blanchard, but she's never home because she's a teacher. Maybe you'll see her at school Em." Grace says. I nod because I'm not really paying attention.

We walk in silence up to our new home. I really love that word. Home. I'll have to get used to walking two flights of stairs, though. We arrive at the door and Grace unlocks it.

I open it, excited to see the loft. It is bigger than I'd expected and has a rustic look to it. The walls are made of bricks with various random words painted on them. I start to read the words. _Polish, Paste, Grate. _There are many more words, but I don't really care to read them. Geez… somebody must have been really drunk when they did that. All around the downstairs there are rustic wooden beams. The stairs resemble to a wide ladder. I have to get used to that. The only downside is that we haven't got any furniture. The furniture from our old apartment was rented.

Grace has ordered some furniture and the like from Anthropologie. It is supposed to be here by today. We do have the essentials like countertops made of a nice granite and a vintage looking kitchen table with wooden chairs. I wander around upstairs and find some old knitted blankets, a bookcase full of antiques, and a wooden traveler chest that is locked. I am rummaging around looking for the key to it to find out what kind of treasures it holds. No luck so far.

I walk down stairs about an hour later to find Grace and Hollis sitting on some boxes and talking. "Hey Emma." Grace says. "Find anything cool up there?"

I nod. "Yup! I found a traveler's chest that's locked! I'm trying to find the key but it won't turn up anywhere!" I exclaim with a huff.

"I'm sure we will find it eventually." Grace assures. She opens her mouth to say something else but is interrupted by a knock. She smiles. "That must be the furniture! Coming!" She calls to the door.

Grace swings open the door and a middle aged man is standing there with a clipboard. "I have a delivery for Grace Swan." He says.

"That's me." Grace says.

He hands her a the clip board. "Alright then." He points to the paper. "Sign here." Grace does as told. "Here. Here. Here. Alright, we're good to go. I'll have my guys bring up the furniture." He says.

"Okay. Thanks!" Grace calls to the man. He is already walking down the stairs. Grace turns around and squeals. I can tell she's really excited. I am too.

Soon, about five different guys are helping each other bring couches, nightstands, chairs, and bed frames and mattresses up the stairs." They are huffing and puffing. It's quite funny actually. Grace, Hollis, and I are just sitting on boxes looking amused.

Once they are done we have a total of three bedframes, seven nightstands, and who knows what we will do with seven nightstands, three mattresses, three different couches, four small settees, three chairs, and many, many, various antique looking trinkets. We also have some quilts, rugs, pillows, throws, bathroom supplies, candles, mugs, plates, and silverware, and much more. I cannot imagine how much Grace spent on all of this. I asked her why she didn't just rent more furniture and she said that we might be staying here permanently, so she didn't see a point. I just don't know how we could afford it. It is 1996, and the economy is rough in this world.

Hollis and Grace spend the rest of the day putting furniture in its place and I go off exploring. I would help, but I want to give Grace some time with Hollis to talk about stuff. I walk past a building whose sign reads Storybrooke Elementary. I can hear the happy cries of children who are at recess. I assume this will be the school I am to attend. It doesn't look like there is another school anywhere close by.

I look up to see a woman with a pixie cut holding out her finger. There seems to be a bluebird on it, but I can't quite make it out without my glasses. The bird flies to what appears to be a birdhouse in a nearby tree. The woman turns from the window and I can hear her say," If you love them, and they love you, they will always find you."

I continue to walk around the small town. I find myself at the seashore, balancing on some driftwood. I look off into the distance and I can see a small wooden castle. I run up to it, almost tripping over driftwood, in the process. I climb on it and sit down, facing the sea. I stay there until it starts to get dark and reluctantly make my way back to my new home.

I walk up the two flights of stairs and then towards the door. There is a vaguely familiar humming sound in the distance. I know this song. I stop dead in my tracks and listen intently to the humming coming from what I remember Grace saying was Mary Margaret Blanchard's room. With my ear up against the door I can hear that she is singing a lullaby that my mother used to sing to me.

"_Deep in the meadow, under the willow  
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow  
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes  
And when you awake, the sun will rise._

_Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you."_

I can't bear to listen longer. How does this woman know that song?

I quickly walk to our door and open it. My nose is engulfed with the smell of Grace's famous mac and cheese. Okay, it's really just Kraft mac and cheese, but she makes it the best. Grace is at the island in the kitchen and Hollis is sitting at a barstool.

Grace turns to face me. "Oh there you are Em-what's wrong!" She exclaims. "Why are you crying?" She wipes tears from under my eyes. I honestly didn't know that I was crying. I sniffle.

"Nothing. It's nothing." I mumble. She wouldn't understand. And I can't tell her with Hollis around.

"Emma? Please?" Grace's voice is pleading. It pains me to do this, but I'm just not ready to tell her. I shake my head and look down at my shoes. This is too much for me. I break away from her embrace and then run upstairs to where one of the beds is.

I'll just claim the upstairs as my room. It isn't very big only large enough to be called one room, so it will be mine. The clock reads 8:15. I kick off my shoes and jump on the bed, smothering my face with a pillow and sobbing into it. Before I know it, I'm fast asleep.

* * *

I wake up early. It's 6:54 and I normally wake up around 8:00. I walk downstairs and Grace is nowhere to be seen. She's probably in her room, still asleep. I wonder if we have any food. I open up the pantry door, finding it filled with food. Grace must have gone grocery shopping yesterday while I was walking around town.

I'll just have cereal. I assume the bowls and silverware aren't clean, so I fill up the dishwasher with dishes and wash them. I eat Cheerios out of the box.

Grace walks out to the kitchen with her hair in a messy bun, wearing sweats and a t-shirt. She gives me a small smile that says '_we need to talk'. _ I hunker down into the chair I'm sitting in. She huffs and sits in the one across the table from me. She looks at me with kind eyes and I know that I will have to tell her what happened.

"So what happened last night?" Grace asks. I shake my head, but she's relentless. "Emma, I'm worried about you."

"I heard-" I stop because my breath is shaky. "I heard the lullaby."

"Emma, what lullaby?" Grace asks.

"The lullaby that mama used to sing to me. Before I went to sleep." I look at Grace, waiting to see her reaction.

She looks confused. "Hold on. How could anybody know that song if it is from our world?"

I shrug. "That's what I was wondering."

"Wow." Is all Grace says. She tries to change the subject. "So today I'm going to enroll you in school. Are you excited?" Grace asks.

"I guess. Will I be going to Storybrooke Elementary?" I respond. I hope I will be going there. It looked really interesting.

"Yes." Grace nods.

The dishwasher goes off and Grace starts to unload dishes and put them in cabinets.

* * *

Grace and I drive to Storybrooke Elementary School. Grace's first day of her new job is tomorrow, and hopefully my first day of school will be tomorrow too.

Grace pulls into the large parking lot and parks the car. We walk to the school from the parking lot and I notice that the window that I saw the woman in yesterday was open. Grace opens the large double doors and I slide inside. The office is in a room to the right of us and we enter it.

"Hello!" A lady who's nameplate reads 'Debra Coleman' says.

"Hi." Grace responds.

"How may I help you two?" Mrs. Coleman inquires.

"My name is Grace Swan and I am the new music teacher." Grace says hoping that they will know who she is.

"Oh! That's right! Hello Grace." Mrs. Coleman gets up from behind the counter and shakes Grace's hand. "I remember you from your interview last week."

"Hi Debra. I'm not here about my job. I'm actually here to enroll my little sister Emma in school here." Grace says.

"Oh! Okay, that's great! Let me just get some paperwork for you to fill out." Mrs. Coleman says while going back behind the counter and rummaging through a file cabinet. She grabs a thick stack of papers and hands them to Grace with a pen. "So just fill these out and while you are doing that we can bring Emma back here and have her fitted for a uniform." She motions towards me.

"Great." Grace moans. "I love paperwork." She says sarcastically. She sits down in a chair and reluctantly starts to fill out the paperwork.

"Alright Emma, come with me." Mrs. Coleman says I do as told and follow her into another room. It is chalk full of hanging racks, navy blue uniforms, and bins which I assume are full of socks. She opens a bin and I find my assumption is correct. It is full of navy blue crew socks with white stripes. She shuts it.

"Sorry Emma, it's just that we haven't had a new student in so long. I've almost forgotten what to do." Debra sounds frustrated with herself.

"That's alright Mrs. Coleman." I reply cheerfully.

Mrs. Coleman walks to a rack of collared, white, button up shirts. She grabs one off of the rack and hands it to me. "Hold this." She says.

She continues to move around the room, grabbing a navy blue blazer with the school logo on it and a matching skirt. Then she grabs a navy dress with the school logo on it and a short sleeved version of the white shirt. She hands me all of these clothes.

"Alright Emma. This is the uniform. You can go try it on in the bathroom over there." She says.

I do as told and walk towards the bathroom. I set them down on the large counter and look at myself in the mirror. I realize that I'm actually really scared for my first day tomorrow. I slid on the uniform and walk out to the room which Mrs. Coleman is in.

"My, my! You look darling!" She exclaims. "Now you will have to go back in there and try on the dress. Either the short sleeved shirt or the long sleeved shirt goes under it."

I go back to the room and try on the dress. Mrs. Coleman has the same reaction.

"Okay Emma. You can go back and change into your clothes." Mrs. Coleman says.

When I come back out I hand her the clothes and she folds them. She grabs more of the same clothes and folds those two. She motions for me to follow her, and I do. We walk out to the room where Grace is just finishing the paperwork.

"Are you done with that Grace?" Mrs. Coleman asks.

"Yes I am." Grace says. She hands the stack of papers to Mrs. Coleman.

"Great. So this is Emma's uniform. I have five outfits for her, for the five school days in a week. There is the option of wearing a dress or wearing a blazer and a skirt. I didn't get the chance to ask Emma which on she would prefer." Mrs. Colman says looking down at me.

"Oh, um, I guess I'd like the dress." I reply.

Grace and Mrs. Coleman talk for a while. When they are done, Grace and I leave with a large _Storybrooke Elementary_ bag with my uniform inside.

* * *

_Dear Mother,_

_Grace and I have now moved into our new loft. It is really spacy and I like it a lot. We live next door to a school teacher who knows the lullaby that you would sing me before bed. Isn't that curious Mama? I've never actually seen her, but I just heard her sing the song. The other day, I went walking around town and I found this wooden castle by the seashore. I quite like it and I hope to spend more time there._

_Tomorrow is my first day of school at Storybrooke Elementary, and I am really scared. Grace told me not to be scared and that everything would be fine, but I don't know. School has never really worked out for me. If you were here you would know exactly what to say to make me feel better. Remember that time that we went to King Fredrick and Queen Abigail's castle and I didn't want to go because I had a crush on Prince Ryan? You said that I had butterflies in my stomach. You said that the only way to overcome your fear was to face those butterflies with a net and catch them. I wish you were here Mama, because right now my net is too small and the butterflies are too big._

_Love,_

_Emma_

* * *

**I hope you liked this. It literally took me all day to write, but it was worth it. The song that Snow was singing in this chapter was the song from 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins. Review?**


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